Ground Beef Bell Pepper Pasta
This ground beef and bell pepper pasta is saucy, hearty, and proves that ground beef doesn’t have to be a boring, backup protein.
Servings:
Ingredients
For cooking pasta
- 8 ounces (227 g) pasta – uncooked, I prefer penne
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil – to prevent drained pasta from clumping
For ground beef bell pepper pasta
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil – divided
- 1 medium bell pepper – aka capsicum, sliced, any color (Note A)
- 6 cloves garlic – roughly chopped
- 1 small onion – finely chopped
- 1 more bell pepper – finely chopped. This is in addition to the sliced pepper above
- 1 pound (500 g) ground beef – (Note B)
- ¾ teaspoon salt – adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1.5 cups (355 ml) marinara sauce
- 1 cup (237 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup (150 g) feta cheese – crumbled
- some chopped basil – optional, for garnishing
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente (follow the timing on the package). Drain and then toss with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to keep it from sticking. Set aside. (Note C)
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Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet/pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced bell pepper (not the chopped one) and saute until tender-crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside.
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In the same skillet, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add chopped garlic and saute for about a minute, just until fragrant. Then add chopped onion and chopped bell pepper and cook. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent.
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Add the ground beef to the pan. Season with salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and oregano. Stir and cook until the beef is browned and fully cooked through. Break it up as it cooks so there are no large clumps.
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Mix in marinara sauce along with water and sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer. When it starts to bubble, lower the heat a bit to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens and don’t forget to stir occasionally. Depending on how fatty your beef is, you might see excess fat collecting around the edges. Take it out with a spoon.
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Add crumbled feta, cooked sliced bell peppers as well as cooked pasta to the pan. Mix everything gently.
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Finish with some chopped basil and extra feta on top, and enjoy.
Ingredient & Recipe Notes
Note A: Bell Peppers – Any color bell pepper works. Green bell peppers are firmer, while red, orange, and yellow ones are riper and tend to be a bit on sweeter side.
Note B: Ground Beef – Use lean ground beef if possible. The fattier the beef, the more oil it will release. You can remove the extra fat while cooking, but it can get tricky as you have to be careful to not spoon out too much of the sauce along with it.
Note C: Cooking Pasta – Start cooking the pasta while you prep the ingredients and progress to the other steps. That way, you won’t stand around waiting for the first step to finish. Set a timer so you don’t forget to check on the pasta as you multitask.
